02 September 2010

Secretary Clinton Urges Citizens to Give to Pakistan Relief Fund

State Department reaches Americans, world via television and radio

By Jane Morse
Staff Writer

Washington — As the scope of the devastation inflicted by the flooding in Pakistan becomes ever more evident, the United States is promoting new ways for citizens to join the effort to help flood victims.

In television and radio public service announcements (PSAs) released August 31 by the Ad Council — a private, nonprofit U.S. organization that marshals charitable efforts by the advertising and media industries — Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton encourages Americans to donate to the Pakistan Relief Fund. Created by the U.S. State Department, the fund is meant to raise the profile of Pakistan’s needs to donors around the world whose generosity can help.

The new PSAs direct audiences in the United States and around the world to visit the State Department’s Pakistan Relief Fund page to make donations. U.S.-based callers can also donate by text-messaging the word “FLOOD” to 27722; each text raises $10 for Pakistan flood relief.

As Clinton said in her August 19 announcement of the Pakistan Relief Fund, the flooding in Pakistan has affected 20 million people — more than the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the 2005 Pakistan earthquake and the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami combined.

The United States has committed $150 million for Pakistan flood relief and has diverted another $50 million from a multiyear, multibillion dollar development plan for Pakistan. Individual Americans and U.S. businesses have also been generous with assistance for Pakistani flood victims: As of September 1, $8.39 million in private-sector contributions had been made to help Pakistan recover from flooding, according to a State Department fact sheet.

(This is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://www.america.gov)